A trio of Christmas drink-drivers have been banned from the roads after all being disqualified on previous occasions.
Former pub landlord David Clarke was banned for a third time after being caught behind the wheel of a minivan while over the limit.
Clarke, of Old Norwich Road, Ipswich, admitted driving a Kia Sedona with 48 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 35mcg.
The 67-year-old’s vehicle had been flagged as uninsured by a number plate recognition camera during the Christmas drink-driving campaign on December 23.
Although his lack of insurance was later disproved by a misprint, the ex-landlord of the Whitton Maypole failed a breath test.
In 2012, he was jailed for 16 weeks and banned for three years for failing to provide a breath specimen and driving while disqualified in Ipswich the previous November. He had also fraudulently claimed insurance by failing to disclose a 20-month ban for drink-driving without a valid test certificate the year before.
Representing himself in court on Thursday, Clarke told Ipswich magistrates he had been drinking before driving to buy fish and chips on the day in question.
“I shouldn’t have driven,” added Clarke, who was banned for 38 months and fined £200.
Also before the court, Duncan Robinson, 29, of Sanderling Way, Stowmarket, was banned for a second time after pleading guilty to driving a Volkswagen Golf into a field off the A1120 near Framlingham with 108mcg of alcohol in breath at about 9.15pm on December 23.
The support worker, who was banned for 19 months for an excess alcohol offence in June 2015, was again disqualified for 42 months, handed 100 hours of unpaid work and ordered to attend 20 hours of rehabilitation activity.
Finally, Andrew Tattersall admitted having 44mcg of alcohol in breath when pulled over in a Ford Cougar close to his home in Spring Road, Ipswich, at about 3.45pm on the same day.
The 44-year-old had been banned from driving for an excess alcohol offence in August 2015.
Solicitor Marcus Croskell said Tattersall had drunk heavily the night before and was “shocked” to learn he was still over the limit. He said Tattersall had consumed alcohol only twice since 2015 and that considerable time had passed between drinking and driving.
Tattersall was banned for 36 months and fined £650.
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